Review of Nightbird, by Alice Hoffman

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Fantasy, Starred Review 0

nightbird_largeNightbird

by Alice Hoffman

Wendy Lamb Books (Random House), 2015. 197 pages.
Starred Review

I’ve read at least three different books about a teen who sprouts wings, and how they deal with that. This book is different — It’s about the sister of a boy with wings. In fact, the wings are part of a family curse on all the men of the family.

Twig Fowler lives in the small town of Sidwell, Massachusetts, with her mother and a brother that no one knows about. The town has plenty of tradition – including Twig’s mother’s Pink Apple Pie. But one of the traditions — the Sidwell Monster — is not so benign.

James is tired of living in hiding. And Twig is tired of not having friends. When a family moves into the home of the witch who cursed the Fowler family, and they are descended from that witch — Twig and her new friend Julia decide it may be time to break the spell. But how? And James is getting more and more reckless — and falling in love with Julia’s sister Agate.

This is a feel-good story, and if things worked out awfully nicely, I don’t begrudge any of them a happy ending. We’ve got a kid just wanting friends, a small town infused with magic, and Alice Hoffman’s brilliant writing.

alicehoffman.com

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Source: This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy I got at an ALA conference.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Lost in NYC, by Nadja Spiegelman & Sergio Garcia Sanchez

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Graphic Novel 0

lost_in_nyc_largeLost in NYC

A Subway Adventure

by Nadja Spiegelman & Sergio Garcia Sanchez

Toon Graphics, 2015. 49 pages.

Here’s a story that makes the most of the graphic novel format and throws in plenty of facts – even historic photographs – about New York City and the subway system.

Pablo’s first day of school in New York City happens to be the same day his class is going on a field trip, riding the subways, to the Empire State Building. Alicia helpfully offers to be his partner, but he is wary of making friends, since his family moves so often.

With Pablo’s inexperience, Alicia and he get separated from the class, and then Pablo gets separated from Alicia. However, Pablo knows where they’re going and asks for directions. Alicia uses her knowledge of the city to walk to the Empire State Building, and the class rides the subway. The graphic novel is perfect for showing how the three different groups take three different routes.

Along the way and in the back of the book, we get the history of the subway and facts about New York City.

And we’re told about another nice touch at the back. When the illustrator, Sergio Garcia Sanchez, was researching in preparation for drawing pictures of the subway stations, he took lots of pictures, and then noticed a policeman keeping a wary eye on him. So on almost every spread of the book, he included himself taking pictures and being followed by a cop. And of course once the reader finds that out, you go back to spot Sergio and the Cop in every crowded subway spread.

Even though this is a story about getting lost, I think the happy ending will help kids approach something potentially daunting – like riding a subway – without fear and with confidence.

toon-books.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Read Bottom Up, by Neel Shah & Skye Chatham

Contemporary, Fiction Review, Romance 0

read_bottom_up_largeRead Bottom Up

by Neel Shah and Skye Chatham

Dey St. (William Morrow), 2015. 239 pages.

I’m reading like crazy for the 48-Hour Book Challenge, and this book is a fluffy romance that was a fun diversion. Okay, it’s not exactly a romance, since the Authors’ Note at the front pretty clearly indicated that the relationship is doomed.

This book is the story of a modern relationship — told through emails and texts, not only between the principals themselves, but also with their best friends.

And yes, that rings true! In a relationship don’t we go over everything with our friends? Okay, this book was nice to assure me it’s not just me who does that. I loved the way Madeline analyzes everything including the speed or lack of speed with which Elliot answers her emails.

Another fun thing about the book is that the co-authors only shared with each other what the characters shared with each other — the discussion of the relationship with the respective best friends was totally written separately.

Here’s how they put it in the Authors’ Note:

Somewhere deep in your Sent Items graveyard are the emails you wrote to your former flame along with the emails you wrote about those emails to your best friend. It’s all right there — a partial record of your relationship. But what if you could see the whole picture? Not just your side of it. After all, somewhere in the pixelated part of the world is your ex’s inbox. Therein lies all sorts of analysis to which you were never privy. What if you could read the whole funny, tragic, wincing train wreck of it all, if you could finally open up your relationship like a dollhouse (or, say, a cadaver) and know the truth of what happened?

This book is fun and a quick read. And as someone theoretically facing the whole dating world, it made me feel not alone.

hc.com

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of With a Friend by Your Side, by Barbara Kerley

Contemporary, Cross Cultural, Picture Book Review 0

with_a_friend_by_your_side_largeWith a Friend by Your Side

by Barbara Kerley

National Geographic, Washington, D.C., 2015.

Barbara Kerley takes amazing photographs. (And what else do we expect from National Geographic.)

The text of this book talks about all friends can do and be. The photographs make it shine. Barbara Kerley catches the sparkle in the eyes of friends having fun together.

Looking at the pictures, you’ll notice she’s got all skin colors represented, and friendships between people of all different shapes and sizes and ages. But the pages at the back really bring it home. She’s got a world map and tells where every photo originated. They are truly from all over the world.

Some of my favorite photos are Clowning around in Bamako, Mali, Slip sliding down a muddy hill near Jakarta, Indonesia, Getting ready to fly in Pacific Palisades, California, U.S.A., About to get wet in Lake Cerknica, Slovenia, and Cozying up to a good book in Sarsy, Russia.

This book is a work of art celebrating people – celebrating Friends.

nationalgeographic.com/books

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Source: This review is based on a book sent to me by the publisher.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Sidewalk Flowers, by Jon Arno Lawson and Sydney Smith

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Wordless Picture Book 0

sidewalk_flowers_largeSidewalk Flowers

by Jon Arno Lawson and Sydney Smith

Groundwood Books, House of Anansi Press, Toronto, 2015. 28 pages.

I can’t resist the charm of this wordless picture book.

We’ve got a little girl with a red hood, walking with her father, holding his hand. Her father’s talking on his phone almost the whole way. He’s not noticing at all what’s going on down at his daughter’s level.

She sees flowers — growing in the cracks of the sidewalk, growing in the grass in a vacant lot by a bus stop. She gathers them.

And then she leaves flowers behind with those she meets, on her level — a dead bird in the park, a man sleeping on a park bench, a dog’s collar, and, when she gets home, her mother’s hair.

The two planes of action — father on phone, girl gathering and distributing flowers — are simply captivating. This book keeps pulling me back to look at it again. I’d love to share it with a child and hear about what they see.

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Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of The Handsome Man’s Deluxe Café, by Alexander McCall Smith

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Fiction Review, Mystery 0

handsome_mans_deluxe_cafe_largeThe Handsome Man’s Deluxe Café

by Alexander McCall Smith
performed by Lisette Lecat

Recorded Books, 2014. 9 hours 45 minutes on 9 discs.

This is the first of the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency books which I listened to instead of reading. It’s pleasant listening, though in some ways it emphasized the rambling nature of the books. I did enjoy the reader’s African accent, which seemed appropriate, and now am completely sure I know how to properly pronounce “Mma” and “Rra.”

This book has one main puzzle for the detective agency, which seemed a bit easily solved, but was at least an interesting case. Most of the book was about Mma Makutsi’s new endeavor – opening a restaurant, called The Handsome Man’s Deluxe Café.

On top of that, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni has to let Charlie go. He doesn’t have enough work at Speedy Motors. But Mma Ramotswe feels sorry for Charlie and takes him on at the No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency. But does Charlie have what it takes to become a detective? And can he and Mma Makutsi actually work together?

Reading these books is always like spending time with philosophical, cheerful old friends. Listening to one is a nice way to spend time winding down from a day at work.

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Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Five, Six, Seven, Nate! by Tim Federle

Children's Fiction Review, Contemporary, Starred Review 0

five_six_seven_nate_largeFive, Six, Seven, Nate!

by Tim Federle
read by the Author

Simon & Schuster Audio, 2014. 6 CDs.
Starred Review

First, I’ll say that this follow-up to Better Nate Than Ever is fabulous. In this case, the author and narrator has worked on Broadway himself – so he can tell this story as it should be told.

Five, Six, Seven, Nate! features Nate Foster, moving to New York, cast as second understudy for the role of E. T. in E. T.: The Musical. His adventures and the simple day-to-day things he deals with, are hugely entertaining. The reader (or listener) is definitely rooting for Nate, excited about his dream come true of actually performing on Broadway.

He leaves his best friend Libby behind, but she’s given him plenty of tips and moral support. He’s also leaving behind relentless bullies and parents who are far more impressed with his older brother’s sports prowess. At thirteen years old, his voice is changing – which leads to some awkward timing. He’s staying with his Aunt Heidi and learning how to navigate New York and show business.

This is a feel-good, heart-warming novel that will leave you wanting to belt out a musical number at the end. (Now that would have enhanced the audio!) Tremendously fun listening.

Okay, that’s my review – I loved the book, and kids will love it, and it gives insight into what it’s like to be part of a Broadway musical.

Now let me talk about something I was going to ignore – but I decided that in today’s climate, it deserves mention.

Yes, Nate – a thirteen-year-old boy who is obsessed with Broadway musicals – is gay. Back home, in Pennsylvania, he was relentlessly and cruelly bullied. In the book, Nate is involved in two kisses, one with a girl, one with a boy. The one with a boy feels dramatically different, dramatically more right.

The reason I bring this up at all is that I still have friends who believe that homosexuality is a choice, not the way people are born. This book, without making an argument at all, argues against that view. Some of those friends might not want their children reading this book, but I believe they would do well to read it themselves.

Come on, a boy who loves musical theater? Do you really have trouble believing he’s gay? Do you really have trouble believing he would be bullied horribly? Do you really believe he would choose bullying, choose his parents’ disapproval, if he actually had a choice about it?

You may argue that this is only fiction, but the book is based on the author’s adventures in Broadway. The whole scenario rings true.

In the first place, this is a fantastic, feel-good story. But for kids who see themselves in Nate, this is a wonderful opportunity to read a book about someone like them, someone different from his peers. For kids who don’t see themselves in Nate, what better way than reading to put yourself in someone else’s shoes? If this book promotes understanding and compassion – more power to it!

timfederle.com

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Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Belzhar, by Meg Wolitzer

Audiobooks, Contemporary, Paranormal, Starred Review, Teen Fiction Review 0

belzhar_largeBelzhar

by Meg Wolitzer
read by Jorjeana Marie

Listening Library, 2014. 8 hours on 7 compact discs.
Starred Review

Jam Gallahue has been sent to The Wooden Barn, a boarding school in Vermont for “highly intelligent but emotionally fragile” teens. After she lost her boyfriend, Reeve, she’s withdrawn from everything and everyone.

On her first day of classes, her roommate is jealous when they discover that Jam’s been put into Special Topics in English. No one knows why everyone claims the class is life-changing. There are only four other students, and a teacher who will retire at the end of the term. They will be studying Sylvia Plath. The teacher, Mrs. Quinnell, gives them each a red leather journal and tells them to write in it twice a week. She’ll be collecting them at the end of the term.

When Jam writes in the journal, she’s transported to another place, a place outside time, and she is together with Reeve again. She can’t do anything new with him in that place, but she can actually feel him and see him and talk with him. When she comes back, five more pages of her journal are filled in with her own handwriting.

The other members of Special Topics in English have their own traumas to deal with. Before long, the class members all figure out that each one is being transported to another place, where things are right again, every time they write in their journals.

But the journals will be completely full by the end of the term.

This story could have been trite and problem novel-ish. But the author has crafted the story well, revealing information a little bit at a time. Each student in the class has a compelling story, and we also learn more and more about what Jam went through, and how she interacts with her fellow-students.

There’s a fine overarching message about dealing with trauma and being able to get on with life. But the book is good because the story is told in a compelling way.

It’s also a tribute to the healing power of words – both written yourself and written by others.

This book has some healing power of its own.

listeninglibrary.com

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Source: This review is based on a library audiobook from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Madame Martine, by Sarah S. Brannen

Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

madame_martine_largeMadame Martine

by Sarah S. Brannen

Albert Whitman & Company, Chicago, 2014. 36 pages.
Starred Review

I love picture books. But now that my sons are adults, I don’t often purchase a picture book for my own use. The ones I check out from the library are generally enough.

So it tells you something about how much I love this picture book that I just ordered myself a personal copy.

I’m going to give a Spoiler Alert for my review — except I don’t believe you can Spoil a picture book. It’s not about what happens, but about how exquisitely it’s carried out. I will tell you what happens — please, check out this book yourself to appreciate the beauty of how it’s done.

For starters, it’s set in Paris. The book opens to a typical gray cloudy day looking at the park below the Eiffel Tour, with many people and dogs strolling. Madame Martine is then pictured in her dark gray coat, carrying an umbrella and her shopping.

Madame Martine lived alone in a little apartment in Paris. She took the same walk every day. She shopped at the same stores. She wore the same coat. That was how she liked it.

Madame Martine lived near the Eiffel Tower, but she had never climbed it.

“Eh. It’s a tourist thing,” said Madame Martine.

We hear about Madame Martine’s routine, with specific foods for each day of the week. We see tourists ask about the Eiffel Tower and hear Madame Martine’s disdain expressed.

But one rainy Saturday, Madame Martine finds a “very small, very wet, very dirty dog,” a dog who needs her.

She starts doing her routine with her little dog Max along. But one ordinary Saturday, Max suddenly chases a squirrel — and ends up climbing the Eiffel Tower! In fact, Madame Martine doesn’t catch him until just before the doors close on the elevator up to the top.

There’s a wonderful spread with no words, from the top of the Eiffel Tower as the lights of Paris are coming on and the horizon is tinged with pink. (I have some photos like that myself!)

“Oh!” said Madame Martine. “I never knew how beautiful it was.”

“How did you bring that dog up here?” asked a guard. “Dogs are strictly forbidden.”

“I didn’t bring him up here,” said Madame Martine. “He brought me.”

The remaining few pages of the book are bright and sunny. Madame Martine is now wearing a bright red coat, with a yellow patterned scarf.

Madame Martine and Max still have a routine. They still buy certain foods on each day of the week.

Every Saturday they tried something new.

sarahbrannen.com
albertwhitman.com

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

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Review of Flora and the Penguin, by Molly Idle

Animal Characters, Contemporary, Picture Book Review, Starred Review 0

flora_and_the_penguin_largeFlora and the Penguin

by Molly Idle

Chronicle Books, 2014. 40 pages.
Starred Review

Who would have thought that Molly Idle could match the brilliance that is Flora and the Flamingo? Yet she has done it here. This book has an Arctic, I mean an Antarctic theme. Our friend Flora is back. She comes onto an ice floe with ice skates, and out of a hole in the ice comes a penguin.

This time, instead of a dance, Flora skates alongside the penguin. I shouldn’t say “instead” of a dance, because the skating amounts to dancing. And as with the flamingo, Flora’s body shape and moves echo that of her partner.

Once again, we have some drama. This time it involves the hole in the ice and some fish. Once again, strategic flaps convey movement and bring the dance to life.

Some parents may be surprised at how effective wordless books are in building reading skills. No, they won’t teach decoding. But they do help build vocabulary. And following a storyline.

Try reading this book with your child and ask questions about what they notice. You will probably be surprised by their powers of observation and ability to express that. What’s more, young ones will be proud to be able to read this book every bit as well as their older siblings. But all groups will enjoy it.

This is a book that will make you want to dance.

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Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.

What did you think of this book?